Check Road Status for Naran, Swat and Chitral in KP Before You Travel

Before you drive to Naran, Kaghan, Swat, Chitral, Dir or the Galiyat, call 1422. That is the 24/7 helpline of the Tourist Facilitation Hub run by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA). The same office posts a road update for each valley on kptourism.com, normally twice a day.

We opened those updates on 3 October 2026. Each one is a single picture card with five rows: Chitral, Swat, Dir, Galiyat, and Naran and Kaghan. Every row says whether the road is open, who reported it, and what the weather looks like. It takes about a minute to read.

One honest warning first. When we checked, the newest card was from the evening of 27 September 2026. Nothing had been posted for about six days. So treat the website as a starting point, and treat a phone call to 1422 as the real check.

KP posts road status for five tourist areas

KPCTA's Tourist Facilitation Hub publishes a "Travel Update for Tourist" card for Chitral, Swat, Dir, Galiyat, and Naran and Kaghan. It shows the road condition, the source of the report, and the weather. Morning and evening cards appear on the Travel updates page.

Most rows name the "DC Control Room" as the source. That means the information comes from the Deputy Commissioner's office in that district, the officer who runs the district administration. The Dir row on 27 September named the "TFC Incharge" instead, the head of the local tourist facilitation centre.

The card also carries a short line on the Karakoram Highway (KKH). On 27 September it said "KKH update: open". The KKH is the road north through Besham and Chilas towards Gilgit, and many people driving to Naran or Hunza use it.

Check the road in five steps before you leave

Open the Travel updates page, read the latest card and check its date. Call 1422 if the card is old or your road is not listed. Then check the motorway police page if your route uses a motorway or the Swat Expressway.

1. Open kptourism.com and tap "Travel updates" at the top. A second tab called "Warnings" holds weather alerts.
2. Open the newest card. Look at the date and time in the top right corner before anything else.
3. Find your area's row. Read the road status and any timing note, such as hours for a pass.
4. Call 1422 if the card is more than a day old, if your road is not on it, or if it rained overnight.
5. Check the NHMP travel advisory for the motorway part of the drive.

Ask the person on 1422 three things: is the road open now, are there any timings, and is a 4x4 needed. Write down the time of the call. Roads in these valleys can change within hours after rain or a landslide.

What the 27 September update said for each valley

On the morning and evening cards of 27 September 2026, every listed road was open. Kumrat in Upper Dir was open for 4x4 vehicles only. Babusar Pass and the road to Lake Saif-ul-Maluk had fixed daily hours.

This is a snapshot, not today's status. A "4x4 only" note matters: an ordinary car will not make it up a road the district has limited to jeeps.

Babusar Pass and Saif-ul-Maluk run on fixed hours

The 27 September card said Babusar Pass was open from 6 am to 6 pm and the Saif-ul-Maluk Lake road from 9:30 am to 4 pm. Plan your day so you cross inside those hours, with time to spare.

Babusar is the high pass above Naran that links Kaghan valley to Chilas on the KKH. If you reach the barrier after the closing time, you wait for the morning or turn back. The same applies on the jeep track up to the lake from Naran.

Babusar also closes for the winter every year, because snow blocks the top. The date changes each year and is set by the district administration. We did not find a 2026 closing notice on any official page by 3 October, so we are not giving a date. Ask 1422 before any trip to Naran from late October onward.

Motorway status comes from the motorway police

For the motorway part of your trip, check the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) travel advisory, or call 130. It lists closures, diversions and weather for each motorway sector, including the Swat Expressway, the Hazara Motorway and Islamabad to Murree.

We opened the NHMP travel advisory on 3 October 2026. It is updated through the day and shows a sector phone number for each road. These sectors matter most for a trip north:

• Swat Expressway, Col Sher Khan to Chakdara: "Road and weather clear" on 3 October.
• E35 Hazara Motorway, Burhan to Thakot: two single lanes closed for road work on 3 October.
• M-1, Peshawar to Islamabad: clear on 3 October.
• Islamabad to Murree (N-75): clear on 3 October.

So the two systems split the job. NHMP covers the fast roads to the edge of the hills. KPCTA's 1422 covers the valley roads after that. Murree itself is in Punjab, so the KP card does not cover it, but the Galiyat row covers Nathia Gali and Ayubia on the KP side.

Weather warnings sit on a separate page

Rain and snow alerts are posted under "Warnings" on kptourism.com, not on the road card. The latest one we found covered 12 to 17 September 2026 and warned of glacier melt and floods in Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan and Mansehra.

That advisory, written in Urdu and dated 11 September 2026, passed on a weather department forecast of rain and thunder. It warned that streams could rise and glacial lakes could burst in Upper and Lower Chitral, Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Upper and Lower Kohistan and Mansehra. It asked tourists to call 1422 if anything went wrong.

For the wider forecast, use the Pakistan Meteorological Department. Its forecast for 3 to 8 October expects mostly dry weather, with rain only in the north. The October to December outlook expects a wetter north than usual, which can mean earlier snow on the passes.

If you go on past Babusar into Gilgit-Baltistan, the rules change. GB has its own Tourist Police, and you can report a tourist complaint in Gilgit-Baltistan on 1422 there as well. For the paperwork side of a long drive, keep the northern areas travel checklist handy. In a real emergency, such as a crash or someone hurt, call Rescue 1122 first, and keep the other emergency helpline numbers saved.

Common questions

What is the KP tourism helpline number?

1422. KPCTA's Tourist Facilitation Hub says it answers 24 hours a day for travel information in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including road status for Naran, Swat, Chitral, Dir and the Galiyat.

Is the Naran road open today?

Check the newest card on kptourism.com under Travel updates, then call 1422 to confirm. On 27 September 2026 all Naran and Kaghan routes were open, with Babusar Pass open from 6 am to 6 pm.

When does Babusar Pass close for winter?

It closes every winter once snow blocks the top, but the date is set each year by the district administration. We found no 2026 notice by 3 October, so call 1422 before a late October or November trip.

Can I drive a normal car to Kumrat?

Not when the district limits it. On 27 September 2026 the KP card said the Kumrat road was open for 4x4 vehicles only. Hire a jeep locally if that note is still there.

Where do I check motorway closures on the way to Swat?

Use the NHMP travel advisory page or call 130. It lists the Swat Expressway, M-1 and Hazara Motorway sector by sector, with closures, diversions and a phone number for each.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 3 October 2026. The 1422 helpline, the five areas on the road card, the road status, sources and the Babusar and Saif-ul-Maluk hours are read on the KPCTA Travel updates cards dated 27 September 2026 (10 am and 4 pm) on kptourism.com, the newest posted when we checked. The 12 to 17 September weather warning, the districts named and the travel tips are read on the KPCTA advisory card dated 11 September 2026 under Warnings. The motorway sector status, sector names and the 130 helpline are read on the NHMP travel advisory page and nhmp.gov.pk on 3 October 2026. We found no official 2026 date for the winter closure of Babusar Pass and do not give one. We did not call 1422 for this article.